Review of "Separation is the necessary condition for light." by Brian Teare

"Separation is the necessary condition for light." by Brian Teare was offered by Poets.org's Poem-A-Day on October 22, 2013.  A link to the poem, including the poet's notes, may be found here:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/23729

Brian Teare (b. 1974), an assistant professor at Temple University, is the author of three books of poetry and the founder of Albion Books, "a one-man micropress" dedicated to publishing poetry.  A more detailed biography may be found here:

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/1385?utm_source=PAD%3A+Separation+is+the+necessary+condition+for+light.+by+Brian+Teare&utm_campaign=poemaday_102213&utm_medium=email

Mr. Teare reveals in his notes that the poem was inspired in part by the death of his father and in part by the death of his friend's father.  The idea of separation, specifically the separation of the living from the dead, is woven into the lines of the poem--which contain blank spaces between certain words--and into the overall form of the poem--indentation is used in an alternating fashion to offset each successive stanza from the one above it.  The poem uses aspens in autumn as an elaborate but beautiful metaphor for the ghostly reappearance of his father in a dream.